To Linux einai mia teleiws dwrean epanaulopoihsh toy POSIX protupoy, me SYSV kai BSD epektaseis (poy shmainei oti moiazei me UNIX, alla den proerxetai apo thn idia bash phgaioy kwdika), to opoio einai dia8esimo se morfh phgaioy kwdika alla kai se ektelesimh morfh. Ta pneymatika dikaiwmata anhkoyn ston Linus B. Torvalds Linus.Torvalds@Helsinki.FI kai alloys poy kata kairous exoyn prosferei sthn anaptyjh toy. Dianemetai ``eleu8era'', sumfwna me toys oroys ths GNU General Public License.
To Linux den einai public domain, kai den einai shareware. Einai ``dwrean'' logismiko, kai mporeite na dwsete antigrafa toy, alla prepei na dwsete kai ton phgaio kwdika mazi h na kanete dynath thn dianomh toy me ton idio tropo. An dianeimete opoiesdhpote allages, eiste nomika ypeu8ynoi na dianeimete ton phgaio kwdika gia aytes tis allages. Deite thn GNU General Public License gia leptomereies. Ena antigrafo dianemetai me ton phgaio kwdika toy Linux, h mporeite na parete ena antigrafo mesw ftp apo to prep.ai.mit.edu, katalogos /pub/GNU/COPYING.
To Linux akomh dianemetai eleu8era, twra poy exei ftasei sthn ekdosh 2.0, kai 8a synexisei na dianemetai eleu8era. Akribws logw ths fushs ths GNU adeias xrhshs, ypo toys oroys ths opoias dianemetai to Linux, 8a htan paranomo na mhn dianemetai eleu8era to Linux. Prosoxh omws: einai apolutws nomimo na apaitountai xrhmata gia thn dianomh toy Linux, arkei na dianemetai kai o phgaios kwdikas mazi. Ayth einai mia polu genikh diapistwsh. An 8elete tis akribeis nomikes leptomereies, diabaste thn GNU adeia xrhshs toy Linux.
To Linux trexei se 386/486/Pentium mhxanes me ISA, EISA, PCI kai VLB diauloys. O diaylos MCA (ths IBM) den yposthrizetai teleia akoma, parolo poy exei arxisei na yposthrizetai apo ta kernels 2.1.x. An endiafereste, deite thn selida <http://glycerine.itsmm.uni.edu/mca>.
Yparxei mia metafora se anaptyjh gia polles Motorola 680x0 platformes (twra trexei se kapoies Amiga, Atari, kai VME mhxanes), poy twra pleon doyleuei arketa kala. Apaitei enan 68020 me MMU, enan 68030, 68040, h enan 68060. Epishs apaitei mia FPU. Oi trexoyses ekdoseis exoyn yposthrijh kai gia diktyakes kai gia X efarmoges.
To Linux trexei polu kala stoys Alpha epejergastes ths DEC, me yposthrijh gia tis mhxanes "Jensen", "NoName", "Cabriolet", "Universal Desktop Box" (eyrutera gnwsto ws Multia), kai polles alles platformes. Gia perissoteres plhrofories, deite thn selida <http://www.azstarnet.com/~axplinux/FAQ.html>.
To Linux trexei kala kai se Sun SPARCs; oi pio polles sun4c kai sun4m mhxanes twra mporoun na trejoyn to Linux, me yposthrijh gia tis sun4u na exei hdh jekinhsei na anaptussetai. To Red Hat Linux einai (thn stigmh poy grafontai aytes oi grammes) h monh dianomh toy Linux poy yparxei gia SPARCs! Gia perissoteres plhrofories deite thn selida <http://www.redhat.com/support/docs/rhl-sparc/>.
To Linux metaferetai twra kai sthn arxitektonikh PowerPC, symperilambanomenwn twn PowerMac (Nubus kai PCI), Motorola, IBM, kai Be mhxanwn.
Metafores toy Linux kai se alles arxitektonikes, opws MIPS kai ARM, exoyn jekinhsei kai deixnoyn diafora pososta proodoy. Mhn kratate thn anasa sas, alla an endiafereste kai mporeite na prosferete, mporeite na breite ki alloys poy 8a endiaferontoysan na doylecoyn mazi sas.
To Linux den 8ewreite pia se peiramatiko stadio, afou ekdosh 1.0 exei teleiwsei apo tis 14 Martioy toy 1994. Yparxoyn akomh bugs sto susthma, kai nea bugs 8a emfanizontai kai 8a dior8wnontai ka8ws perna o kairos. Epeidh to Linux akoloy8ei to ``anoixto protypo anaptyjhs'', oles oi nees ekdoseis 8a dinontai sto koino, akomh ki an den 8ewrountai ``emporikhs poiothtas''. Parol' ayta, kai gia na boh8h8ei o kosmos sthn epilogh enos sta8erou pyrhna, to akoloy8o sxhma exei ylopoih8ei: Oi ekdoseis 2.x.y, opoy to x einai zygos ari8mos, einai sta8eres ekdoseis kai mono dior8wseis la8wn prosti8entai ka8ws to y ayjanetai. Etsi apo thn ekdosh 2.0.2 sthn 2.0.3, yparxoyn mono dior8wseis la8wn oxi nea xarakthristika. Oi ekdoseis 2.x.y, opoy to x einai enas perittos ari8mos, einai beta-poiothtas ekdoseis mono gia developers. Mporei na einai asta8eis, na paroysiazoyn genikotera problhmata kai allazoyn polu grhgora ka8ws nea features prosti8entai se aytes synexeia. Molis pernaei arketos kairos, ka8ws h trexoysa ekdosh toy kernel sta8eropoieitai, h anaptyjh ``pagwnei'' gia ligo, mia kainouria sta8erh ekdosh toy kernel moirazetai, kai h anaptyjh synexizetai me mia kainouria peiramatikh ekdosh.
H trexoysa sta8erh ekdosh einai h 2.0.31 (ayto 8a synexisei na allazei ka8ws kainourioi odhgoi prosti8entai kai bugs dior8wnontai). H peiramatikh ekdosh poy anaptussetai einai h seira 2.1.x. An h 2.0.x einai polu kainouria gia esas, mporeite na parameinete me thn 1.2.13 pros to paron. Parol' ayta oi teleytaies 2.0.x ekdoseis exoyn apodeixtei arketa sta8eres. Shmeiwste oti h allagh apo thn ekdosh 1.2 sthn 2.0 apaitei na allajete kai polla apo ta programmata sas! Isws protimhsete na allajete sthn pio kainouria ekdosh ths dianomhs sas gia na allajoyn mazi kai ayta ta programmata. O phgaios kwdikas toy Linux kernel periexei ena arxeio, Documentation/Changes, poy ejhgei aytes tis allages kai polla alla.
Oi pio polles ekdoseis toy Linux, peiramatikes kai mh, einai arketa sta8eres, kai mporeite na synexiste na tis xrhsimopoieite an kanoyn ayto poy 8elete kai den sas endiaferei na eiste sthn ``aixmh ths texnologias''. Ena site eixe enan ypologisth poy etrexe thn ekdosh 0.97p1 (apo to kalokairi toy 1992) gia panw apo 136 hmeres xwris kanena la8os h crash. (8a leitoyrgouse gia polu perissotero an enas ergaths den ekleine kata la8os ton metasxhmatisth kurias isxuos...) Alloi exoyn steilei uptimes parapanw apo ena xrono. Ena site akomh eixe enan ypologisth poy etrexe to Linux 0.99p15s gia panw apo 600 days thn teleytaia fora poy to anefere.
Ena pragma poy ajizei na jerei kaneis einai oti to Linux akoloy8ei ena anoixto kai katanemhmeno montelo anaptyjhs, anti gia ena kleisto kai kentrikopoihmeno montelo, opws h pleiochfia twn ypoloipwn megalwn systhmatwn logismikou. Ayto shmainei oti h trexoysa ekdosh einai panta dia8esimh (me to polu mia h dyo ebdomades ka8ysterhsh) etsi poy opoiosdhpote na mporei na thn xrhsimopoihsei. To apotelesma einai oti opote mia kainouria ekdosh me nea xarakthristika bgainei, sxedon panta periexei kai bugs, alla suntoma arxizei mia taxisth dokimh kai anaptyjh, etsi poy ta bugs briskontai kai dior8wnontai grhgora, syxna mesa se liges wres, afou polloi ergazontai gia na ``xtisoyn'' thn nea ekdosh.
Se anti8esh, to kleisto kai kentrikopoihmeno montelo shmainei oti yparxei ena atomo h mia omada poy doyleuei sto project, kai dianemoyn logismiko otan aytoi nomizoyn oti doyleuei arketa kala. Syxna ayto odhgei se megala diasthmata metaju twn dianomwn kai megales anamones gia dior8wseis la8wn. Safws h teleytaia ekdosh tetoioy systhmatos logismikou einai syxna ychlhs poiothtas, alla h taxuthta anaptyjhs einai genika polu mikroterh.
Stis 26 Oktwbrioy, 1997, oi trexoyses ekdoseis einai 2.0.31 gia thn sta8erh ekdosh toy Linux, kai 2.1.57 gia thn peiramatikh.